Aeroplane control



Selit 23,1930:

R. b. WESLEY- 1,776,378

AEROPLANE CONTRO L Filed oct.- 25. 1929 s sham-sneer 1 l "ByzwaohAttorney Sept. 23, 1930. R. D. WESLEY AEROPLANE CONTROL Filed oct. 25.'1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 .17. Maley A ttomcg Sept. .23, 1930. R. D.WESLEY 'AEROPL'ANE CONTROL Filed oct. 25, 1929 s Smets-snm 3 23.2.Wesley Sept. 23, 1930. R. o, WESLEY AEBOPLANE CONTROL Filed om.. 2s.1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor vE .1). AESZey @QM-mbk A ftorney 23',1930. R. D. WESLEY AEROPLANE CONTROL Filedoot. 25, 1929 5 sheets-sheet 5Attorney l' 15 inventionv latented Sept. 23d,l 1930 l?f -UNITD-STATESPATENT; OFFICE y;

l`vNOLLNLD D. WESLEY, OF NORTON, KANSAS AEROPLANE CONTROL Apnncatipnmeav octbber 25, 1929. serial No. 402,411.

mechanism for aeroplanes and has for its i prime object toprovide astructure ywhich will lautomaticallyihold the controls of `the 5aeroplane `inrsuch a fposition that the aero.- plane will tend to travelat oneelevation horizontallyvmaking the mechanism Vparticularly usefulfor blind flying in foggy weather 'and also permitting stunts to beperformed by f The present invention relates to a control v `10 vsettingthe aeroplane `totravel in a wide circle and then the aviatormayiparachute there-` fromranpdl then be landed 1n the .aeroplane aftera suitable length of time, t Astill further very important object of theresidesin the provision of a conytrol mechanism of this nature whichisautomatic in its operationbeingactuated mainly by acurrentofyaircreat'ed by the movement of the aeroplane.

p `A still further .very important object of the invention resides inthe provision of a'mech- *f anismpf this nature simple in construction,ineXpensiveto man- .ufacture, strongand durable, thoroughly efficientand reliable in use and operation, and

otherwise. well adapted to the whichit is designed. With the abovepurpose for .40 substantially on the line SfBOfjFigure 2, Figure tis afront edge view of one of the YS 'wings'showing the air intake,

Figure ,5 1s a vertical transverse section Y taken vsubstantially ontheline `5-,5 of Figure 2,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section through one `ofthe wingsshowingthe airintake therein, Y s Figure vis `a detaill elevation ofthe-ball 50 and socket mountingof the pendulum',

which. isl exceedinglyV p and numerous other ob- Jects in view as willappear as the description 30 proceeds, the invention resides jin certainnovel features of construction and in the coman outlet nozzle risingfrom the center thereof-as at 27.

, Figure Seis a sectional view therethrough taken vertically,

Figure 9 is a sectional View therethrough takenl horizontally, Y l

igure l0 is an elevation of theba'll, 55 Figure 1l is a perspectiveviewot` the auXiliaryjoystick,

Figure l2 is a l bottom plan view of the pendulum,

Figure 13 is a sectional view through the 6c i i gravity'ballused in thependulum,

Figure 14 is a sectional `View through the casing at the lower end ofthe pendulum showing the folding mechanisintherefor, and

Figure l5 is a diagrammatic viewof the 65 apparatus. l y

`Referring to the drawing in detail it will be seen that the numeral 5ldenotesan aeroplane fuse age in the present instance provided withkWings 6 extending laterallyy there- 70 from, this exemplication being ofthemonoplane type but this is not of the yessence of the invention. i y

Pipes 7 extend from the yfuselage transversely through `t-he frontportions ofthe 75 wings 6 and terminate through the i front edgesthereof in intake 8.` The inner ends of the pipes are enlarged asy at 9top with a nozzle 14, and having depending from the bottom a pendulumshank 15y with a casing 16 formed thereon and the bottom of this casingis in the form of a screw threaded S5 capl?. In this casing and on thecap 17 there is a mercury filled gravity ball 18 whereby the pendulumyis normally held in a vertical 4position. rllhe numeral 22 denotestheusual 99 tick from an intermediate portion of which i forwardly extendsalink 23.

Y This link 23 is pivotally engaged with the joy stick 22 andewith anauxiliary joy stick 24. These joy sticksare mounted in thecon- ,915ventional manner. The auxiliary joystick 24k-curves kupwardly andforwardly and `terminatesin. a concavo-conveX domef26 with i ifi Vio iso' as to bevforc'edk up through the jet or nozzle vthe jet or nozzle14.

A depending annular flange is formed on the edge of the dome as-isfindicated at '28.

Now when the aeroplane is moving forwardly in the air it willKV be seenthat air enters l through the intake 8 and ,is forced through the pipe 7into the ball and socket structure 14 into the domeQ kimpinging againstlthe concave face thereof so as to move the joyy stick until the jet ornozzleQZis :,tlii'iedv with rIhe pendulum, of course, alwaysmaintainsthe'jet or nozzle 14 pointing straightupwardly that is vertically andtherefore there will-` always be this tendency to actuate the joy stickso as to maintain the aeroplane in horizontal flight. A f Y Ait times,of course, it will be desirable vto make the pendulum portion of themechanismv inactive and thisis accomplished by means 'of a lever 30adapted to be actuated by the foot'of the aviator.l y It is thought thatthe construction, operation, utility and advantages .of this inventionwill now be quitev apparent without a more detail description thereof.It is desired, however, to point out that the principles of thisycontrol mechanism can beV applied to any type of air craft as'itsactions arenatural and the pendulum attached to the ball is governed bythe frictionbetween ythe socket, in other words, while it Vmoves in .anydirection easily when the machine or plane is olf level, it is notabsolutely a free swinging pendulum.

The action of the pendulum always directs the air'pressure on thepdomeat the proper place to continually keep the machine level orat the anglethe appliance is 'setfon The speed of generally steady. andcontinuously, the passage of the air Apressure through the ball andsocket 'structure and through the dome tends tohold the control steadyand inplace'. In case of startingthe pendulum would' have atendency toswing backy or nose the plane down which is perfectly naturalon the takeoff likewise the suddenslowingafter contact with the ground, thependulum would swing forward. directing the stick back (that is the'natural position in landing after contact with the ground). K y v f Kp.,-

rIhe automatic, air control structure and stabilizer herein describedmaybe yused as either the principal controls ormsecondary machine in anyposition desired. In a biplane, the automatic control could be on onewing 4the pilot control could be on ythe other using twoeleva'- tors. AYsuggested arrangement would befthe automatic control placed betweenl thepassengers seat and the pilotsseat,.the automatic control beingprimaryand attached to the controls of the plane and the lpilots controlattached to the automatic in much the planes directed at almost anyoutsidefthe range of the joy stick,

the flying vmachine when in liight is same way that dual controls areVarranged y planes today. f v v Y Itis also to be appreciated that thiscon- ,struction may be used on a soar-plane for transportation, andv beattached to a power plane. The United States i'rmy is'flying tied.together and `eXpe'rimenting alongv thisr lineH-"As a military measure,the control could be used in'Y an oensive yplane carrying-highexplosives-,and the plane would be position from apoint high The planeswould thus become the airl and underv be directedquite. accuratelyand ofcourse could belused, as gas-carriers; f

The present embodiment'of has been disclosed 'in yconsiderable torpedoesof detail powered artillery. Y

favorable conditions could the invention v merely' for-the purposesof-eaemplification A since in actual practice itattains thefeatures ofadvantage enumerated .as desirable in the statement of the invention andtheabove description. f n i f .It will be apparent that changes inthedetails of construction, and in the combination and' arrangement ofsorted to without departing from the spirit or parts may be re-V scopeof the inventionas'hereinafter claimedV orv sacrificing any y'Of its'advantge Having thusdescribed my invention, what Iclaimasnewis: y o y.

l." In combination, an` aeroplane, a joy stick for'controlling theaeroplane, meansffor collecting air by the forwardlmovement of theaeroplane andusingsaid air to control 'said air.y

a pendulum operatively assoj elated withsaid means for properlydirecting n fme'an'sx-'for' collecting f i Y air, a pendulum,^a hollowball and socket structure for mounting said'pendulum,' means fordirecting ythe air into said hollow ball and socket structure, ajet'rising therefrom to direct-they air vertically underpractically allconditions, a joy stick terminating into a hood into which the'nozzleis. adapted `to direct air for controlling the joy stick. i

In an aeroplane, air, a pendulum, structure vfor mounting saidpendulum,means for .directing the Aair into said hollow ball and socketvstructure, a jet risingl therefromto direct the air-verticallyunderpractically all means for collecting a hollowball and a socketconditions, ya joystick terminating into a',

hoodinto which the nozzle is adapted" todirect air ;for controlling thejoy stick,rv said hoodl being formed with-an upwardly direc-ted nozzleso thatthere isl a tendencythat Y"said nozzles befmaintained inalinement withV each other.

4. In lan aeroplane, air, a pendulum, a hollow ball Vand socketstructure for mounting said socket structure," aAV jetrising therefromto 'means' for collecting y,

t y p pendulum, means .for directing the air into saidhollowballanddirect the air vertically under practically all conditions, a joy stickterminating into a hood into Whichthenozzle is adapted to direct air forcontrolling the joy stick, said i f hood being formed 1th an upwardlydirected nozzle so that there is a tendency that Y said nozzles bemaintained in alinement with each other, said pendulum includinga shankterminating in a casing, thebottomof which Y is in the form of a screwthreaded cap.

A5. In an aeroplane, means for collecting air, a pendulum, a hollow balland socketA structure for mounting said pendulum, means lfor directingthe' air into said hollow ball and socket structure, a jet risingtherefrom to direct the air vertically underpractically ,all conditions,a joy s tick terminating into a `hood into which the nozzle is adaptedto direct air for controlling the joy stick, said hood being formed withan upwardly directedl nozzle so that there is a tendency that 1 saidnozzles be maintained in alinement with each other, s@ id pendulumincluding a shank terminating in a casing, the bottom of which 4is inthe form of a screw threaded cap, a mercury filled ball in the casing. fy

` '6. f'In an aeroplane, means for collecting air, a pendulum, a hollowball and socket structure for mounting said pendulum, means '(30. fordirecting the air into said hollow ball and socket structure, a jetrising therefrom to direct the air verticallyunder practically allconditions, a joystick terminating into a hood into which the nozzleisadapted to direct air for controlling the joy stick, said hood beingformed with an upwardly directed nozzle so that there is a tendencythatA said nozzles be maintained in alinement with each other,saidpendulum including a shank o terminating in a casing, the bottom ofwhich fis in the form of a screw threaded cap, a mercury -iilled ball inthe casing, a rockably u mounted lever in the aeroplane adapted to beactuated against' the casing to ,makerthe a5 pendulum inoperative.

,'Z. In combination, anaeroplane, a joy stick for controlling theaeroplaneterminating in a hood', means for collecting airby the forwardmovementof the aeroplane and directing said air against the hood tocontrol the joy stick. v y

VIn testimony whereof I 'aix my signature.

'l ROLLAND D. WESLEY.

